Targacept CEO rallies troops after depression drug setback; EC approves Pfizer rare disease drug; Chelsea gets priority review;

 @FierceBiotech: Pfizer won expert backing for Prevnar 13 in adults for pneumonia, meningitis and other pneumococcus bacteria diseases. Item | Follow @FierceBiotech

 @JohnCFierce: EC aims at boosting antibiotic R&D with a public/private initiative, via ReutersReport | Follow @JohnCFierce

 @RyanMFierce: Agios attracts 3 large public investors, Celgene and VCs in $78M C round. Story | Follow @RyanMFierce

> Looking to rally the troops, Targacept CEO Don deBethizy is telling reporters that the biotech's recent late-stage setback for the antidepressant TC-5214--which failed the first in a series of late-stage studies--is something akin to going through a "scoreless" first quarter. Investors who bailed on the company evidently took a far more dire perspective. Story

> Pfizer ($PFE) says that the EC has approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis) for Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) in adult patients with stage 1 symptomatic polyneuropathy. TTR-FAP is a rare and lethal neurodegenerative disease that affects about 8,000 patients worldwide. Release

> Chelsea Therapeutics long and winding road for droxidopa has finally led to the FDA, which accepted its NDA and offered a priority review for the program. Release

> Sanofi's Genzyme and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation have inked a new discovery collaboration. Release

> AmpliPhi Biosciences has raised $2.7 million from some individual investors, including Jim Mellon and Gwynn Williams. Release

> New Jersey's economic development group has qualified a list of biotech and tech companies for the state's program that allows them to sell R&D tax credits and tax losses for operating cash. Story

Pharma News

 @FiercePharma: Galderma's North American president Francois Fournier gets the profile treatment from D magazine. Profile | Follow@FiercePharma

> Pfizer aims for Lipitor deal with Express Scripts. Item

> Novartis workers end strike, but vow to fight on. News

> France stiff-arms Sanofi's Multaq after study. Story

> Pfizer near agreement to resolve bribery probe. Report

Vaccines News

> FDA experts back Pfizer's Prevnar 13 for older adults. Article

> GAVI to bring HPV vaccines to poor countries. Story

> Experts: Video on Delta flights misleading about vaccines. News

> Weakness found in deadly malaria parasite. Report

Manufacturing News

> Aesica CEO Hardy makes CDMO business fly. News

> Novartis workers strike to forestall plant closure. Item

> Merck leans on suppliers, partners to expand reach. Article

> Strikers want Dr. Reddy promise of regular work. Story

> UCB to set up major bioprocessing plant in Switzerland. Report

And Finally... Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Kyushu University Medical School say that a novel combination of a sugar molecule with cell-killing drugs prompted a variety of cancer cell types to kill themselves. Release